The present invention relates to systems and methods used to train individuals for particular labor positions and for personal growth. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and system for implementing an integrated learning environment containing authoring, interactive learning, and administrative functions that may be implemented in a client-server or Application Service Provider (xe2x80x9cASPxe2x80x9d) environment, such as the Internet.
Many employment positions, ranging from a bank teller to a financial advisor, require a specific, identifiable set of job skills. Often, these skills are learned through a combination of training classes and On-the-Job Training (xe2x80x9cOJTxe2x80x9d). While training programs with classroom and practical components do impart a certain set of skills to employees, the programs are less than ideal. Training classes are expensive to provide. The direct costs associated with classroom instruction include the cost of providing classroom space, providing an instructor, providing educational materials (such as books, software, audio/visual materials, and the like), and providing classroom equipment (such as computers). One of the biggest problems is that classroom training usually involves describing the task, not actually doing it. It is only through performing a task repeatedly that a learner can come to recognize the patterns that differentiate one situation from another. This is what the traditional master-apprentice relationship tries to impart.
Real-life OJT is not an efficient way to learn job skills. In many instances, OJT results in an employee conducting many of the same routine tasks multiple times, while not having the opportunity to perform or learn how to perform less common tasks, which are nevertheless within the job description of the employee. For example, a bank teller may spend 60 to 80 percent of his or her time processing deposits. The repetition associated with processing deposits usually results in the teller gaining excellent proficiency for this particular task. However, tasks encountered less often, such as opening a reserve line of credit for a checking account, are not learned as well. A deficiency with both classroom and OJT is that mistakes made in either environment can embarrass the student-candidate or leave him or her feeling inadequate for the position. Yet, the learning process inherently includes making mistakes.
Existing Computer Based Training (xe2x80x9cCBTxe2x80x9d) systems address some of these issues. Once a course has been developed, it is much cheaper to deliver than conducting live classrooms. It can be delivered at the convenience of the learner, rather than the trainer. Learning can be self-paced according to the learner""s abilities. Any mistakes are committed in private.
In spite of these advances, problems remain. Perhaps the biggest problem is that effective content is very expensive to produce. It requires a substantial commitment of time and effort from practitioners, or Subject Matter Experts (xe2x80x9cSME""sxe2x80x9d). Authoring experts must turn the vision of the SME""s into a course, a process that frequently results in an end-product that is one step removed from the immediacy of the practitioner""s knowledge. Alpha and Beta testing take time, and subsequent revisions again require authoring experts. The inevitable consequence is that most training simulations are limited to one-size-fits-all solutions. Once the learner has gone through the tutorial, that""s it; they get very little additional benefit from doing it again. It doesn""t approach the richness of the possible variations that are encountered in the real work environment.
A related problem is the issue of training administration. Once a course has been developed, how does one track who has been through it, or how have they done? Does a change in the order of course modules make a difference in end results? Are there synergies among courses and training materials offered by different providers? Maybe the most important question is what impact does the training have on actual job performance?
As changes in the working environment become more and more an inescapable fact of life, these issues will only intensify.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved and more integrated methods and systems of creating, delivering, and administering effective training materials for job candidates. There is a particular need to provide a cost-effective system that permits rapid development of large amounts of highly interactive content, ideally without relying on the need for authoring experts. Preferably, the content is deliverable via a client-server or Application Service Provider (xe2x80x9cASPxe2x80x9d) environment, such as the Internet, so that it can be accessed anywhere, anytime, teaches a student all skills necessary to perform a job, and allows for administrative management of the entire learning process.
The present invention provides an interactive computer based method and system for creating large amounts of highly interactive, realistic training content using a pattern-capturing tool, and a directed navigation guide tool. The invention teaches job candidates a set of skills by exposing them to sufficient examples of work situations for them to start to recognize the patterns involved in the task, and, when they are ready, by allowing them to participate in a realistic simulation of the actual work environment. The invention employs a conversational technique to teaching particular skills, simulating, in virtual reality, a real-world apprentice-mentor relationship. The invention further allows for evaluating the candidates"" proficiency or understanding of the subject matter. It is another attribute of the invention that it allows the training administrator to monitor learner performance as a function of training received, and to incorporate resources provided by other firms into the measurement. All of the functionality of the present invention is accessible through any standard browser interface.
As is apparent from the above, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a method and system for the creation, maintenance, delivery and administration of an integrated computer-based, preferably client-server based, learning environment. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.